Floor-cleansing apparatus.



A. E. MOORHEAD. FLOOR GLEANSJNG APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED 00119, 1901.

Patented July 26, 1910.

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lmvemton A. E. MOORHEAD. ILOOR GLEANSING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILEDO0T.19, 1907.

965,315., Patented July 26, 1910. Q a SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. E. MOORHEAD.

FLOOR CLEANSING APPARATUS. I

APPLIOATI'ON FILED 00119, 1907.

965,315.: A Patented July 26,1910.

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ALBERT E. MOORHEAD, or SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

FLOOR-CLEAN SING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July as, 1910.

Application filed October 19, 1907. Serial No. 398,285.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT E. MOORHEAD, a citizen of the United States,residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Fran-- cisco and Stateof California, have invented certain new and. useful Improvements inFloor-Cleansing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to floor cleansing apparatus and to certainimprovements therein, especially directed to the operation calledscrubbing.

The object'of my invention is to rapidly and effectually cleanse floorsof all kinds .by washing, scrubbing and mopping without the-usual laborand flooding with water that takes place in hand cleansing.

The improvements consist in a movable collecting device, hereinaftercalled a case, adapted to be impelled by hand over the surfaces offloors and to which is supplied water, and if required, disinfectingsubstances and soap and to which is connected a vacuum chamber andflexible conducting pipe, so that the foul water and impurities will bedrained away and removed from the collecting case'or operating device asfast as they accumulate, and conveyed to a,suitable collecting tank orreceiver with the required accessories to separate solid impurities fromthe spent water.

My improvements also include means for removing water from the floorimmediately around and outside of the collecting case, so that 'suchoperation takes place by the movement of said casein either direction.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of one o myimproved scrubbing devices showing the aqueous and pneumaticconnections; Fig. 2' is a transverse section through the movablecollecting device or case; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same device;Fig. {L is a view 'of the bottom is aside view of the cleansing deviceshown as removing water from a floor on the back stroke, or towardtheoperator, as indicated by the arrows; Fig. 6 is aviewof the samedevice shown as collecting water from a floor in front of the operator,or'on a forward stroke, as indicated by the arrows; .Fig. 7 is a View ofthe same device shown as moving to the right and draining water from afloor at one side, also-from the interior chamber, as

indicated by the arrows; Fi 8 shows the .reverse of Fig. 7 or showing te device moving to the left, as indicated; Fig. 9 is a view of the samedevice shown as moving to the right and draining Water from the interioror brush chamber alone; Fig. 10 is a View of the same device shownmoving oppositely to the movement of Fig. 9, or from the operator, asindicated by arrows.

The fixed portions of the ap aratus, for creating a partial vacuum andraining the water from within and around the movable device or casing 1,are not herein shown but correspond in most of their features to a likedevice shown and described in.Letters Patent N 0. 820,007, granted to meon the 8th day of May 1906 for an improved pneumatic cleansingapparatus, with the distinction, however, that the present devicesrelate mainly to the use of water and the former to the use of air.

1 indicates a casing, closed at the top, sides, and ends, and open atthe bottom. To said casing water issupplied by a flexible hose 8 fromany suitable source of supply of water under pressure, the water thussupplied passing through a stop valve 7, their through the hollow handle5 of the apparatus, and then through a pipe 2, to which is connected asmall receptacle 4, in which may be deposited soap, disinfectants,deodorizers, or other soluble substances, the water thenpassing througha flexible ]O 1I1t 3, and by a pipe 30 discharging into a pipe 32extending centrally and longitudinally of the case, and formed with tworows of perforations, by which the water is discharged into a chamber 13and on to the floor 14.

Within the casing 1 two brushes 20 are secured to the inside of an innerframe 22 which is secured by screws to the inside of the-casing 1. Saidbrushes diverge sllghtly downward and rest in contact withv the floor,as clearly shown in Fig. 2, in order to scour'the floor thoroughly inthe forward and backward motion of the casing 1 when scrubbing. The endsof the casing l are slotted to receive slides 39, which carry transverserods 25. Upon said rods are loosely mounted clamps 24 which, carry rubber wipers 23. Said wipers 23 are ad ustable in position in the holders24 in order to compensate for Wear. -To the ends of the rods 25 areattached links 27 which are fastened to disks 28, and, by means of astop handle 29, can be set in any one of three different ositions, asshown in Figs. 5, 7.

and 9, WhlCh illustrate said positions of the v parts on a backwardstroke, as do Figs. 6, 8, and on a forward stroke, the adjustments beingthe same. Since the wipers are pendulously supported on the rods, theyare moved by the friction with the floor 14 to the right or left, as thecase may be, opposite to the course in which the scrubbing device ismoving.

15 indicates a flexible hose connected at its outer end to a suitablesuction deviceand at its inner end to a conduit 9 which enters obliquelyinto an interior chamber 10 of the casing 1. Said chamber 10- is incommunication with the space at each side of the casing 1 between theinterior of the side wall of said casing and the corres ondi'ng wiperholder 24. By the above 'escribed backward motion of'the wipers 23 dueto their friction with the floor, the wiper 23 on the rear side of thecasing, having reference tothe direction. in which the casing'is moving,

is brought into contact with the lower edge 'ofthe rearsi-d'e wall ofthe casing,'closmg the same, but the forward wiper 23, is, by

said backward motion; withdrawn from the other'wiper is withdrawn fromthe other side wall of the casing, creating an inlet, through which, inturn, the dirty water is sucked up into the chamber 10 andthence intothe suction pipes 9 and 15. "lhese'pi-voted wipers thus perform doublefunctions, wl-ping' and collecting water fromthe floor,

' and also acting as valves to control the entry of water into thechamber 10* and sue- .tion pipe 15.

When the: handle 29 is in the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6, thepassage to the chamber 10' from the part of the floor in contact withthe brushes is closed by the wiper holders, and only the .water outsideof said wiper holders can pass into said chamber 10 and to the suctionpipe 15..

Whenthe handle 29 is set in an intermediate position, as shown in Figs.7 and 8, the water on the front or advancing side of the scrubbingdevice can be sucked up only outside of the front wiper, and the wateron the floor in contact with the brushes can be sucked up only insidethe rear wiper, ac cording to the direction in which the scrubbingdevice is moving.

, discharge water When the handle 29 is in the position shown iii-Figs.9 and 10, only the water within the wipers can be drawn up into 4 thechamber 10 and into the suction tube 15.

As shown in Fig. 2, a roll or cylinder 33 of a soluble disinfectantsubstance, or of such substance combined with soap, may be placedbetween the brushes, said roll being gradually worn away by the motionof the apparatus and dissolved by the supply of water.

I claim':'-

1. In a floor scrubbing device, a movable containing casing open at thebottom, brushes therein arranged to rest upon a floor, a perforatedwater pipe adapted to discharge water on the floor adjacent to saidbrushes, means to supply water thereto, and means to draw away the waterfrom the floor adjacent tothe brushes, substantially as described.

2. In a floor scrubbing device, a movable. containin casing open at thebottom, brushes t erein arranged to rest upon the floor, a perforatedwater pipe between said brushes adapted to discharge water on the flooradjacent to said brushes, means to supply water thereto,and means todraw away the water from the floor adjacent to the brushes,substantially as described.

3. In a floor scrubbing device, a movable containing casing open at thebottom, brushes therein arranged to rest upon a floor, a perforatedwater pipe adapted to discharge water on the floor adjacent to saidbrushes, means to supply water thereto, means to draw away the waterfrom the floor adjacent to the brushes, and rubber movably-supportedwipers outside said brushes, substantially as described.

4. In a floor scrubbing device, a movable containing casing open at thebottom, brushes therein arranged to rest upon a floor, a perforatedwater pipe adapted to on brushes, means to supply water thereto, meansto draw away the water from the floor adjacent to the brushes, and'rubber movably-su'pported wipers outside said brushes, and arranged tobe moved into contact with the sides of the casing, to act as valves tocontrol communication with the interior of the casing, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ALBERT E. MOORI-IEAD.

Witnesses: I

JAMES MASON, -M. V. CoLLINs.

the floor adjacent to said

